Staande vrouw en een vrouwenhoofd 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this quick graphite sketch of a standing woman and a woman's head. It feels like the artist was just thinking out loud on paper. Look at the way the lines are so active and searching, almost like he’s feeling around for the right form. Israels is not so concerned with getting the details right, but instead with capturing a sense of movement and energy, the physicality of the medium is really apparent. I’m drawn to the clustered marks that define the head, they're not about rendering a likeness, but more about conveying a sense of weight and presence. It's almost like the marks are the thoughts themselves. You might see something like this in the work of someone like Manet, that same casual approach to form, like a snapshot of a fleeting moment. But what stands out to me is that embracing of ambiguity, the way it invites us to participate in the act of seeing.